The present invention relates to an improved terminating and grounding strain release clamp assembly, sometimes called a "backshell", for electrical shielded cables and the like. Prior art such as usage of mechanical band dispersed from a banding tool as the means for joint connection between the "backshell" and terminated electrical cable shields, individual and/or overall, is error-prone, tedious, cumbersome and non-repairable assembly.
In some known application, such as today's fly-by-wire and/or HIRF configured airplane, an almost absolute minimum amount of EMI presence is critical to the airplane system performance. Simply stated, the electrical cable and/or wire shield grounding shall be continuous and free of contamination. The prior art banding assembly is totally impacted by the assembler disadvantage of not having enough "hands" to locate and position individual and/or overall cable shields while applying the mechanical band and then operating the banding tool. The prior art banding assembly almost consistently produced an unacceptable ground shield terminations such as high resistance, misalignment and improper location of the mechanical band, overlapping cable shield braids, loose mechanical band, etc. Another resultant problem is the susceptibility to environmental contamination. For example, when the cable shield is of nickel plating and the mechanical band is stainless steel and the termination platform on the backshell adapter is cadmuim plated, galvanic action amongst different metals produces corrosion. Another problem associated with the prior art banding assembly is the inherent nonrepairable shield termination which increases the airline's cost of ownership.
The present invention also eliminates the need for a tool and the user friendly assembly significantly improves the EMI performance, greatly reduces assembly cost, increases reliability and allows maintainability.